Group Asks High Court to Allow Live Broadcast of Health Care Decisions

A coalition of news organizations is asking the Supreme Court to permit live broadcast coverage of the upcoming announcement of its historic health care decisions. In a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., the group wrote, "There is a strong interest nationwide in the Court’s opinion and any comments by a member of the Court that may accompany its announcement. Such access would allow the public to be informed of the Court’s ruling in a timely manner." The Court announced today it would be sitting on Monday and Thursday of next week to issue decisions, and several sittings are also expected the following week, at the end of which the Court is likely to adjourn for the summer. But the Court never lets it be known in advance which decisions will be issued on which days. The Court's current practice is to release the audio of oral arguments at the end of the week in which they occur, thereby limiting their news value. The Blog of Legal Times reports